Family’s miraclous escape after trailer overturns outside their home

Family’s miraclous escape after trailer overturns outside their home

12 April 2017

A NEWCASTLE family has been left badly shaken after a trailer overturned outside their home on Saturday.

Three cattle died in the accident which happened when the trailer, which was being towed by a tractor toppled shortly after 10am, crashing into a family garden at South Promenade.

Caroline Keown-Richman, who lives in the house with her husband and five children, said it was “miraculous” nobody was killed in the accident, which happened as crowds of tourists arrived in the town to enjoy the sunshine.

She said she would have been in the tractor’s path with her two youngest children if she has not run into her kitchen to grab a piece of toast.

She said the children were waiting for her in the front hallway when they heard the “unreal noise” of the crash outside the door.

“I opened the door and was shocked by what I saw, the gates, the wall, the front window, everything was demolished,” she said.

“I had the wee ones ready to go to Donard Park on foot and I ran back into the house for a piece of toast I had left on the counter.

“If I had not done that I absolutely would have been on that path with the children. There were so many people about it is miraculous nobody was killed.”

Caroline’s husband, Dean, said he immediately feared his wife and the children were trapped under the trailer when he looked out an upstairs window after hearing the crash.

“I heard my wife say they were off to Donard Park then I heard the rumble of the tractor trailer coming around the bend,” he said.

“There was a massive noise and when I looked outside I screamed because I could just see clouds of dust and the trailer overturned.

“I thought my wife and kids were there. 

Sometimes the kids would sit on a wall waiting for her to come out and my first thought was had they done that.”

Relieved to hear his wife shout out downstairs, Dean said they immediately ran outside to see what they could do to help.

He said the trailer was lifted within an hour, while people came from around the area to clear their garden and the path.

Dean said he hoped Roads Service would take action to improve safety of the road following the accident, which he said had left him with a horrible sense of déja vu.

“This type of accident has unfolded in my nightmares,” he said.

“You can hear the rumble of lorries coming around that corner and I have often feared one will plough into our living room.

“We are just be thankful that on this occasion nobody was injured or killed.”